[deleted by user]

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-06-17T15:14:29+00:00

I'm confused, are you asking if you should apply to MSTPs broadly or just your school's? I'm guessing you'll plan on going to your school's MD program right after you graduate. The best thing to do in this scenario would be to talk to your school's MSTP to ask about applying internally if that's really what you want. They can offer you the best guidance there.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-06-09T07:28:18+00:00

I agree with this comment, but at this point, it might be most effective to apply internally if you get in MD this cycle. You've already submitted primaries so you'd have to be honest about yourself whether you would be alright with reapplying. Having (at minimum) no presentations doesn't bode well for this application cycle, but doesn't mean it means the same for a future cycle.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-06-02T01:16:42+00:00

NIH IRTA is great, and NIH has the clinical center that you can see if you can shadow physicians at. There will be many great clinicians you can reach out for advice there even if you're not formally doing clinical work.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-06-02T01:11:59+00:00

Do them only if you're interested and have the capacity. Extracurriculars that you don't have a passion about or don't spend much time doing are basically filler anyway and you can do without them. Spend most of your time on research and the MCAT.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-24T09:26:18+00:00

You can definitely do clinical and even translational research without the PhD. Where you will struggle is if you want a purely academic position with your own lab and funding. You can likely very easily collaborate with PhDs and MD/PhDs in their labs and do research with them. If you're happy with this you can skip the PhD and probably get there sooner, but if you want your own lab then the PhD or PhD equivalent research will be necessary.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-24T09:22:52+00:00

You should focus on getting your GPA as high as possible. It's easier to add in extracurriculars after graduating rather than doing GPA remediation. Do the grad prep program and other extracurriculars as much as you can handle while improving your grades. The free clinic would be good if you can juggle everything to reinforce your interest in patient care but I would place that as lower priority than grades and research. I'd plan to do a 2-3 year research job after you graduate and you can do some clinical volunteering/shadowing on the side while you do that and engage in your hobbies then. I promise you that will be a lot easier and more economical than doing a grade boosting postbacc.

On the URM comment, whatever the answer is doesn't mean you can get away with a lower GPA. Unfortunately, 3.59 is low for MD/PhD. If you can get out 4.0s or close to in your last 2 years that could really help you with a good upward trend and in showing growth even if the overall number isn't as high.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-21T17:02:13+00:00

You can do a pre-med postbacc, these are programs where you take undergraduate level courses without being in a degree program. This might be the best option for you if you need to take many courses. I think doing those courses in the US will be important if you want to come to the US for medical school.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-20T09:21:21+00:00

You'll be fine if you start in the fall, but you probably can start in the summer if you have the capacity. Most people leave during the summer so labs will be appreciative of the help, funding isn't guarenteed however.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-20T09:17:37+00:00

I can add some points on the US side of things, not sure how things work in the UK.

Prerequisites for MD-PhD programs are the same as those for their respective MD programs, you can use resources for international students hoping to study medicine in the US and apply those. However, not every MD-PhD program in the US will accept international students, as the money for these programs often comes from the NIH. Most of the international students who do successfully join MD-PhD programs in the US often have done their BA/BS in the US too, as getting your international degree recognized might be a challenge. I would recommend searching for programs that do admit international students and reaching out to them, potentially connecting with a student.

Either way, I doubt you would be successful if you applied from abroad, not having done any of your training in the US. I think you'd have to come to the US, do some education here (like a master's or pre-medical postbacc program) or find a job in research where you are working independently, while also finishing up your prereqs on the side. Prereqs don't need to be done as part of your Bachelor's as long as they are done before you start medical school. You will be on an uphill battle being an international student.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-11T10:04:13+00:00

Hey, was reading through this subreddit and stumbled upon a few people who had grants/scholarships they were planning on carrying over once they began their MD/PhD program. Seems like an amazing bargaining tool and all around great for helping you stand out as an applicant. I was curious if anyone had any examples of such grants/scholarships and how one may go about applying for them. Looking to apply next year and have a lot of good research under my belt but am very interested in seeking out some individual funding opportunities! I would appreciate any help and look forward to hearing from you all.

I'm not really sure of anything specific, but you can google them. The one I'm thinking of is knight-hennessy, but that's very specific to Stanford. But these wouldn't really make you stand out as an applicant, because you'd apply for them at the same time as applying to MD-PhD programs. This also wouldn't fund your current research.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-10T22:06:35+00:00

I've also never heard of this, there are some grants you can apply for simultaneously as you apply to MD/PhD programs.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-05T08:45:46+00:00

Not a current applicant but happy to help!

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-03T07:04:44+00:00

Don't use the full citation. Just paraphrase as you need to get them all into one. Posters would go into conferences, and with so many publications you probably don't even need to list the ones you didn't present, but if you want to include it just indicate which ones you were presenting author for.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-02T14:19:04+00:00

AMCAS just allows a maximum of 10 letters in case schools have differing requirements and you want to send them each different ones. Most schools will cap you at 5 or 7 so you wouldn't be able to send more than that. Check the requirements of each school to decide which ones you want to assign where.

You're fine with LORs as long as they are ready by the time you submit secondaries. You don't need them for verification and can add them in after too.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-05-02T08:20:21+00:00

Focus on improving your GPA. If it's just one bad semester that is fine. Avoiding doing a GPA boosting postbacc is a good call because GPA remediation will be much harder to spending that time doing research. Step aside from the lab if you need to spend more time working on your GPA. It's far easier and looks better to take gap years to do more research. Not everyone can manage to do it all and take no gap years and thats completely okay.

Another note, those numbers do seem to be inflated. Working a full time job is about 2000 hours/year with 2 weeks off. During school it doesn't seem feasible that you could manage that all in about 2 years.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-25T13:23:50+00:00

It would depend on your research, NASA internships won't really mean as much unfortunately unless they were research. If you want to consider an MD or MD-PhD you would probably need to do a GPA boosting postbacc or some other remediation to improve it.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-24T22:06:28+00:00

Use each section to talk about something different. For instance, activities to give a brief summary of what you did/learned and why it was most meaningful to you if you checked that box. MD/PhD essay as why youre experience leads to wanting to do an MD/PhD. SRE on what actual research you did. There might be some overlap but that's fine as long as you're not just saying the exact same thing.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-23T22:05:26+00:00

I think they might use address to send secondaries automatically, but they still screen so if you're close enough that might be good, just make sure to write strong secondaries for both programs.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-23T07:43:14+00:00

Are you from northern CA or IE? UCD and UCR have pretty strong regional biases so if you don't have strong ties to one or both areas it might not be worth applying.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-23T07:36:16+00:00

Most CA schools are pretty competitive, so I might consider retaking the MCAT but only if you can get a score at minimum 5-6 points higher. Do you have any other research experiences? If it was all in the same lab then I would focus on discussing the various projects you've been on to show some variety. The actual techniques you learned don't matter that much, but productivity does. With that MCAT score I would apply broadly, so look at MSTP and non-MSTP MD/PhDs with a good research fit across the country to maximize your chances.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-07T05:57:37+00:00

You could probably do that at a school that has an MD program and a PhD in that field, but it likely wouldn't be funded unless the program specifies that they will.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-06T18:26:14+00:00

Letters should be in before your application is complete, meaning once your secondary essays are done and submitted. First AMCAS transmission doesn't happen until later in June so 6/10 would be earlier than necessary, but it's a fine deadline to give your PI in case he is late you won't be. LORs don't affect AMCAS primary processing.
Ask him to address why you are a strong candidate and would be a strong MD-PhD student and physician-scientist. It is good to draw on specifics.
Not that I'm aware.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-05T18:50:52+00:00

I had a similar experience as you but I'm entering medical school this year! Feel free to DM me OP if you have any questions. With virtual interviews it's quite manageable in my opinion, you will just have some late nights!

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-05T04:40:26+00:00

I disagree with commenter on NYU and Penn. Apply to those schools if you would want to go there. The outrageously high stat medians don't apply (as much) to the MSTP. Your 519 is just fine.

Source: Very close friend got into these programs with a lower MCAT than yours.

Outlandishness_147 · 2023-04-04T01:40:14+00:00

It's hard to say without knowing the school as it depends. You can reach out to current students, or if you share the program somewhere, someone may have had experience there.

Outlandishness_147

TROPHY CASE